Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 2:30 a.m. in "The City."

What can I say? I was asleep in my Media Room La-Z-Boy, when Mary came up to tell me that Ginger had had her final out and that Mary was off to bed. Since I was awake, I went downstairs and did my regular overnight kitchen duties, emptying the dishwasher, washing the leftover supper dishes and also replenishing the supply of taco seasoning. I followed Mary's tried and true recipe which she has memorialized in her personal cookbook. When she takes the time to memorialize a recipe, it is in its final form and as long as I stay true to the recipe, all goes well.

Speaking of improvisation, our dinner last night was one of Adam's favorites, Spaghetti Role Casserole. That's where following a recipe usually comes in. Mary keeps the basic recipe in her head and when she discovered that she didn't have any tomato soup, she used some another form of tomatoes. She improvised and I think the outcome tasted great.

I can cook most anything as long as I follow the recipe, the only exception is my Coleslaw, which is an ever changing formula. I stay close to a recipe that I have in my memory, but the changes come in the amount of vegan mayo, and rice vinegar that I use to top the shredded or chopped cabbage and the shredded Granny Smith apple that has become part and parcel to my slaw. The taste is always good, but it is rarely the same.

As any fan of automobile racing knows, today is the scheduled day for the 102nd running of the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing." Former British driver, Jimmy Stewart, always called it the "Greatest Spectacle in Motorcar Racing", but that was his personal contribution. At any rate, the drivers are scheduled to "Start their Engines" @ 12:12 p.m. EDT following the introduction of the drivers that includes the last race for Danica Patrick in any venue.

Just before the race, there will be a military march, the singing of America the Beautiful, an address by General Joseph Lengyel, the Presentation of Colors, and an Invocation delivered by Archbishop Charles Thompson, a bugler playing Taps, Jon McLaughlin singing God Bless America, Kelly Clarkson, singing The Star-Spangled Banner, a flyover by military jets and finally, Jim Cornelison, will perform Back Home Again in Indiana, which was sung for years by the late Jim Nabors.
Here is Nabors singing Back Home Again in Indiana at his first Indy 500 in 1972. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWk2sH9PduQ

Finally, about two and one-half hours of what a former colleague called real racing, because it has cars with open wheels, versus NASCAR racing, which he called taxi cab racing, because of the type of cars.

Speaking of sports, as the late sportscaster, Howard Cosell, used to say, as he opened all of his sports broadcasts. YouTube™ is such a rich source of material for my blogs, so I'll include a sample of that opening here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPJR7Eo2u0w

Baseball news yesterday was not very good to me, with one exception. My beloved, 36 - 16, 1st place in the AL East, with a 2.0 game lead over the NY Yankees, Boston Red Sox, defeated the 2nd place in the NL East, Atlanta Braves, 8 - 6 on the strength of a home-run and a triple off the bat of Andrew Benintendi, and a a triple off the bat of Mitch Moreland. In addition, Dustin Pedroia played his first 2018 game yesterday after being activated off the disabled list on Friday. The Sox and the Braves play today @ 1:05 p.m.

Speaking of the disabled list, Yu Darvish, he of the $126,000,000 six-year contract, has once again been placed on the the disabled list due to some form of tendonitis in his forearm. He was scheduled to start for the 26 - 22, 4th in the NL Central, Chicago Cubs tonight @ 8:08 p.m. against the 25 - 27, 3rd in the NL West Giants, who beat the Cubs 5 - 4 yesterday. If you do the math, Darvish is being paid $21,000,000 dollars per year. So far, he is not earning that lofty contract.

The 22 - 29, 3rd in the AL Central, Detroit Tigers, lost to that 16 - 33, now 4th in the AL Central, other team from Chicago, 4 - 8. When the Tigers can't beat a team that low in the standings, all you can do is shake your head. The Tigers and that other team take the field today @ 1:10 p.m.

Finally in baseball news, the 26 - 22, 3rd in the MWL East, West MI White Caps, fell hard last night to the 21 - 26, 5th in the MWL East, South Bend Cubs, 0 - 11. Ouch. The Caps have lost three straight and they have a losing road record. The Caps and the S.B. Cubs play again tonight in South Bend @ 7:05 p.m.

Yesterday, we set out to visit an antique sale in Muskegon after picking up some things at the grocery store and refilling the depleted fuel tank on our Kia Soul. We were about to head over the drawbridge when we spotted the traffic backing up, similar to Friday's traffic disaster. Fortunately, Mary was able to get over and we instead went to Chow Hound™ and Home Depot™ instead of going to Muskegon. Once bitten, twice shy as they say. Or as Jim Nabors said in his Gomer Pyle persona, my grandma used to say, "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me." I think former president George W. Bush used to say that too. We ended up at our favorite watering hole, the World Famous Tip-a -Few Tavern.

Time to mention that the current temperature is 62° as we head down to an overnight low of 58°. We are supposed to rebound to a high today of 66° after sunrise @ 6:11 a.m. The NWS has also issued an Air Quality Alert for Ottawa, County, MI, where we live. That means that activities that can increase the amount of ozone producing gases released into the air, such as pumping gasoline or open burning, should be avoided. In fact, people with respiratory issues should avoid outdoor activities. So, I may put off until Monday those outdoor chores that I failed to get to yesterday. No rush when you are retired.

Today, I may do some cooking and then settle in to watch the 500. Mary will probably join me for part of the race, but for sure, she will be putting together a nice snack spread. The sun will set late tonight @ 9:13 p.m. Ciao.